Seniors Keep in Touch with Technology

Now more than ever, seniors do not have to be isolated from their loved ones when they move into a retirement community. As the activities director, I feel it is important to keep the residents in touch with the world around them through current events programs, college professors sharing their knowledge, etc.

One of the other areas of interest is the World Wide Web, aka, the Internet. In my community, we have a wonderful computer club that was started by a resident. He trained more residents so that they could teach others, and the club has grown each year. They have guest speakers (some from our company's own Information Technology department), group meetings, and one-on-one tutoring. 

It is a fact that baby boomers and those who came before them are more interested in technology then ever before. Many of them have IPads, IPhones, computers, tablets, e-readers, smartphones, etc. Here is a great article about gadget going grandparents that is right on the mark. I also wrote  blog posts about seniors using IPads  and one on seniors using e-readers that you might find interesting.

If you do not have a program in your community yet that teaches your residents about technology, now is the time. Here are a few ways that you can facilitate the process:

1. Do it yourself. Take it a class at a time.... a subject at a time...... Look on-line or in your local library for more information if you need to. I also have noted some helpful books on another blog post re: computers and seniors. 
2. YouTube.com can be your assistant.
3. See if a resident is willing and able to lead the class(es) for you. Be their support by arranging the time and place for the meetings, advertising it, & get the supplies needed for their success
4. Encourage a Technology Club concept like mentioned above 
5. Ask your Information Technology department for their support. Can they direct you and/or  volunteers? Can they teach a class periodically?  
6. Speak to the area high school technology club and see if the students will come teach. Most likely the students need service hours. Residents may really enjoy the inter-generational interaction with this program.
7. Hire a professional company to come in. This might mean a fee to the students in the class

One of the subjects that you could teach would be digital ways to keep grandparents in touch with their friends and families. When most of us hear about grandparents staying in touch, we think of email. That is no longer the case. Here is a terrific article about 5 ways to stay in touch with today's advanced technologies. How wonderful is this, especially for those who may have physical problems that make it difficult for them to type or see well.

Be the facilitator and help a resident learn something new that will surely enhance their life!

Contemplate & Create

A small, but very interested, and talented group of residents went to the museum recently. This trip was different from any other outing to the museum because the residents went to "Contemplate and Create." That was the name of the program at our local museum, and that is exactly what they did. 

The program was basically a tour of specific items in the museum, with narration by the docent highlighting the concepts that we would later put into practice in our own work. There were a few different topics to select from. I choose "assemblage" thinking that it would be the least intimidating.  

After the tour, we went to a classroom area in the museum that I never even knew existed. The teachers for this portion of our outing had everything ready for us. They had a plain white box that would become our work area, along with magazines pre-clipped and organized by subjects, pipe cleaners, buttons, corks, straws, small plastic animals, beads, scissors glue, etc., etc.  They showed examples and guided us through our own very personal process. 

What was neat about this was the bonding that took place with the residents who attended. As some of you know from reading this blog frequently, the community where I work also has two other communities in the area and we run trips together. This trip had about 11 people, but they were from three different locations.  While on the bus waiting for the museum to open, I discussed what we were going to do that morning, and asked the group if they had ever done any type of assemblage project. A few had, and they shared that with  the group. A few had other artistic interests, but had not worked with assemblage. At the end of the morning, when it was time to put away the glue and the beads, it was another great opportunity to interact. It was like  Show and Tell. Everyone took great pride in showing their box and explaining their process and/or subject. 

At our museum, this was a free program and is done with students also. It might be worth a phone call or a look on-line to see if any of your local museum's programs could be presented to your group of senior adults. Some museums have outreach programs where they will come to your retirement community. contact their education department. The museum's slow time for having patrons in the museum is usually a good time for our population, so get busy and see how you can enrich your resident's world with art appreciation.

Safari Theme Party: A Roaring Good Time!

Animal print is the rage right now! You can find it in stores in the clothing department, shoe department, housewares and just about anywhere else you look, and it is the perfect time to have a Safari theme party in your retirement community! 

For my special event, I rented a large tent and had it put up outside. I decorated the tent with the cuttings from the plants that were around the area by placing them on the legs of the tent and up in the apexes of the tent. For the tent I had, there were three specific points to decorate from. I found pinata monkeys and hung them from those points and used the plant cuttings to cover the place where they were hanging. I also used a course rope to hang the monkeys so that it looked more genuine for the theme. (I did have to use multiple pieces for the rope in order for it to be thick enough to be seen.) Make sure if you hang something from the tent that you bring it down low enough to be seen, but keep it high enough for tall guys to work under.

We closed our casual dining area on this night, and encouraged casual dinners to come outside. Our main dining room was open for those who did not want to sit outside or who did not want to navigate a buffet line. The dining room tables had animal print shelf paper in the center of each table, along with a specially printed menu so that they could feel a part of the theme party while staying inside. I did decorate the hallway from the main lobby to the "side door" that took folks outside. I used animal theme balloons to mark which hallway to go to and the door to exit out of. I also used cutouts of the safari theme on the walls of the hallway.

Promoting Activities

In the retirement community where I work, promoting my activities is an important element of my job as activities director. I use a few different methods. I use written announcements that are available twice a week, my in-house television community's channel, a monthly newsletter, posters on a bulletin board next to my sign up sheets and a magnetic board in the main lobby. Today, I want to talk about the magnetic board in the lobby.  

We bought a large brass floor easel and a magnetic board to advertise the foremost activities happening in the community. Due to space it is really important that you control the items on the board, so that your residents know that this is the place for them to find the "need to know at this moment kind of stuff." I like to keep mine in date order, so I am constantly moving the poster that are on the board around once I remove or add one. Usually there is a poster for the week's movie, the week's entertainment, a special meeting, guest speaker, etc.  Location is important, so make sure if you are going to add this to your community, that you have a good place to put it. 

If you can not find a big enough magnetic board, as your religious leader in your community if he has a source where he gets his supplies. I can not remember where we got ours, but I think that is where it came from. Also, thanks to the internet, you can make your own if you want. Here is a Martha Stewart video on how to make your own magnetic board. Remember that you could also frame the board with a frame that you might find in a thrift store or that a family might leave behind once a resident passes away.

In the past, I had magnets that looked like picture frames, or picture frame corners. Once those wore out, I found round black magnets at a local store. They worked fine, but kind of jumped out at me every time I walked by the board and it just didn't feel right. It dawned on me after a few months that there was an easy solution and that it was in my desk the whole time! I had small smiley face stickers in my desk that I used from time to time on notes that I'd send to residents that would work perfectly. Now, when I walk by the magnetic board, I see smiley faces instead. (And yes, it does take an extra minute to make sure they are all facing the right direction, but it is worth it.) 

Is there a place that you can add a board like this to promote your most current programs??

Give it some thought and then do it with organization and style.

Storage Room Solutions

One of the common problems with being an activities director in a retirement community is the lack of storage for all of our goodies! I am lucky in the fact that I do have a large closet that I keep my theme party, special events, and holiday decorations (besides Christmas). Christmas is in another separate storage area. If you do not have a storage area, maybe now, with the housing market being slow, is a good time to discuss this with your administrator.

Once you have a storage area, what is the best way to make the most out of it? Here area a few pointers that I use:
    

• Buy clear plastic bins that are large enough to hold a specific subject's items. I try to pick up one or two when I find them on sale. Keep in mind the largest item and buy accordingly.
• You may also find that when residents leave their home that there are storage pieces that you may be able to use
• Use clean and dry boxes from your kitchen and housekeeping departments
• Label the box well.
•  I use a simple piece of typing paper and write in a black marker what is inside (St Patrick's, Back to School, etc) and put it where it can be seen from the outside
• You may find tape that you can write on to be helpful also. I don't like to label a box in a permanent way so that I can reuse it in the future.
• Use a black thick marker on a cardboard box
• Dates do not usually matter.... it is content that matters
• Keep like items together
• Have shelving added if necessary.
• Keep the items that you use on a regular basis nearest to the door.
• Keep the items that you use less frequently in the back of the room
• Break the room into sections within your mind.
•  At the front are the theme boxes, holiday boxes and silk flowers & vases.
• Towards the back are Fall, Thanksgiving and Halloween
• In the far corner are sports items, wrapping supplies for Christmas and past gift items
• Throw away items that you haven't used in a while, a not in perfect shape, are dated or that you've inherited and don't like.
• Always look to raise the quality level of your decorations! If you are not excited to put it out, go shopping or ask your crafty residents to assist you! Look at Pinterest for cool ideas. (I have a page there also so after joining (free) look for Recharging Retirees!)
• If you need to replace old items, shop "off-season" for your best deals - which means you have to know what you will need in advance...... so keep a list handy and get stuff when you see it during the year, not when you need it.
• If something does not fit in a box, keep it as close to the appropriate box. You might even put a note in the box to remind you, or whoever, to look for the larger piece.
• Keep it clean

It will make you so happy to have nice things and most importantly, knew where they are! I promise you it will make your job more pleasant and effective. Don't hesitate, start with one box at a time!

 

Activities Director Title

I saw this link for an article regarding the job title and perception of activities directors in long term care on the UK Geractive Facebook page. The article is titled 

Let's Change 'Activity Director' to 'Chief Experience Officer' and although it was written almost a year ago, still holds a lot of truth and value. The article is from McKnight's which is a long-term care and assisted living newspaper.

After reading the article, take the poll at the top of my blog and let everyone know what real activities directors think about it. Then, check back and see how your opinion compared to others who respond by clicking the link that says poll results at the bottom of the poll!

Public OpinionPoll Results

National Breast Cancer Awareness Activities for Senior Adults

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and at my retirement community we as staff and residents walk in the local Susan G Komen "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" Walk. It has become an annual event that is spearheaded by our Fitness Director and raises money for this worthy cause. It also shows the community at large that the residents and staff within the retirement community where we work and live cares!

I was searching the web to find some other ideas that would help raise awareness and funds for this cause. If you go on-line, there are a lot of ideas. Some bigger, some smaller. Some are practical for our population and some are not. You can get lost in reading them all. It is fantastic that they are so available. Below are a few thoughts that I believe are the best choices for you, as activities director to review and include on your calendar for October. 

• Have a Doctor or Nurse come in and give your female residents free breast exams and show them how to do an self-exam.

• You can have volunteers make pink bow pins to sell for breast cancer.You will need pin backings, pink ribbon and glue. I like to use the hot glue gun, but crafts clue would be fine. Sell them for $1.00 each and give the proceeds to your local breast cancer organization or hospital.

• Have a day at your community where everyone wears Pink .Those who wish to participate must donate $1.00 to get to wear the pink clothes to work. Give the proceeds to your local breast cancer organization or hospital.

• Hold a Raffle. Get pink raffle tickets and have local stores and businesses donate items to raffle off. Have a table set up in the front lobby with the raffle items so that everyone can view the prizes. Give the proceeds to your local breast cancer organization or hospital.

• Have a Think Pink Bake Sale.  Have a bake sale with the requirement that each item have some type of pink on them, such as pink sprinkles,pink frosting, pink candies, etc...

• If you have a chorus group, arrange for them to be a part of you areas local walk. Usually there is entertainment before and after the walk. Make sure they are dressed in pink and that those who hear them know that they are senior adults from your community.

• Put pink candies in a jar and residents can pay to place their guess of how many pieces there are in the jar. Winner takes the jar of candy home, and the funds go towards the breast cancer organization or hospital. (Sometimes buying pink candy goes towards the candy company's donation at the corporate level.... so you are helping there also.)

• Check out this amazing collection of photos for more ideas from a Pinetrest collector. (Click on the pictures to get more details.)

Here is a link to the other article that I wrote about this event. . . .  Cancer Walk with Residents